Better Late Than Never
by White Firebird
Summary: Catching one last fleeting glance at her two best friends before they hit the road back to their apartment, Carly whispered one thing to herself as Spencer turned on the radio and began blasting music throughout the car. “Better late than never.”


**Hey everybody! Here's a little one shot I thought of after I finished watching 'iHave My Principals' (which, btw, was another awesome episode), and it takes place after the events of the episode, after school has ended for the day. Hope you all enjoy!**

**I don't own anything.**

It had been a glorious day at Ridgeway High. The best day ever, some kids were saying as they filtered out of their classrooms, the final bell having rung, signaling the end of the day. Having helped gotten Miss Briggs and Mr. Howard kicked out of their post as co-principals of the school, and having convinced Superintendent Gorman that Principal Franklin was, and always will be, the right man for the job at Ridgeway, everyone was incredibly happy and celebrating. Everywhere you looked, kids were dancing, throwing hula hoops and footballs, listening to loud music, while Principal Franklin merely watched over his children with a big smile on his face.

As Carly dodged one wild and crazy kid after another en route to her locker, many of them thanked her for her role in getting Principal Franklin his job back. It had been like this ever since he himself had thanked her, Freddie and Sam for being so instrumental in his re-hiring. Finally making it to her destination, Carly let out a deep breath as she watched the kids around her go crazy and party like it was New Year's Eve. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Principal Franklin standing at the top of the steps leading to the second floor, that big smile of his still plastered over his face. He saw Carly and gave her two thumbs up, which she returned eagerly, before twisting the lock on her door, her locker swinging open so she could grab the books she needed for her homework tonight. As she gathered her belongings, kids came up to her to give their thanks for her part in the events that transpired earlier.

"Carly, that was awesome what you, Sam and Freddie did earlier. iCarly rocks!", screamed Rodney as he walked by.

"WOOOO!", yelled Gibby as he ran by, still shirtless, still feeling excited about his favorite principal being back at the school.

"Carly, if I give you a hundred dollars, would you be my girlfriend?", asked Shawn, who got thumped on the forehead before he sulked off.

"I don't know how you three managed to pull it off, Carly, but I've got to say, that was awesome what you did before!", said Wendy excitedly as she stopped in front of the lockers.

"Thanks Wendy, but it was nothing, really. Sam came up with most of it, you should be thanking her, not me", Carly said with a smile, recalling in her head the crazy plan that her blond headed best friend had come up with the day before at the Groovy Smoothie. She then looked to her sides and saw no sign of Sam or Freddie. Funny, she swore that they were with her when they left class…

"I would thank her if I knew where she was. Do you know where she went?", Wendy asked, holding her books to her chest, tapping her foot on the floor, almost expecting the blond to magically appear before her so she could deliver her thanks.

"No, actually, I don't. I thought she was with me when we left class…maybe she's just waiting outside, I'll pass the message along, though", the brunette said to her red-headed friend. Wendy nodded and waved goodbye as she ventured off towards her own locker, leaving Carly to her own thoughts as she slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way to the front doors of the building, where Spencer would be waiting for her.

"Where are Sam and Freddie?", she wondered aloud as she passed many kids who were having the times of their lives, not realizing that all she would have had to do was look right in front of the school, across from the drop off/pick up zone, where the field was located. Underneath one of the many trees littered across the grass, sat the blond haired sidekick and the technical producer of iCarly.

As Sam munched on a low fat Fat Cake mere inches from him, Freddie found himself being interested by a single blade of grass in his hand, as he twirled it with his finger, seemingly content with the silence between the two. Upon finishing her treat, Sam tossed the wrapper into the trash can a few feet away, a feat that didn't go unnoticed by Freddie. Normally, she'd just toss the wrapper on the ground and not give it a second thought or glance. But today…today was different. Something about Sam caused his brain to go into overdrive today, thinking of logical reasons for her change in demeanor. She hadn't insulted him once or punched him, anything like that. The reason that he came to most in his head was that the plan she thought of yesterday was going into motion, and that Principal Franklin was back where he belonged. The joyous high of seeing her plan work and having Principal Franklin back as the principal must have been the reason for the temporary change. At least, that's what he thought it was.

It wasn't long before he realized that he was staring at Sam, watching her tear into yet another Fat Cake, before she finished that one and tossed the wrapper in the trash, and met his eyes, which caused him to quickly look away. Eyebrow arched, lips' curving into that trademark smirk of hers, Sam moves an inch or so closer to Freddie, which caused his breath to hitch in his throat, the smirk only getting bigger on her lips.

"Whats'a matter, Fredlumps? See something that catches your fancy?", she asked in an overly sweet tone, this time causing Freddie to raise an eyebrow. So much for the insults, he thought to himself. Rolling his eyes, he put the blade of grass down and looked towards the front of the building, watching the kids outside continue to go nuts and have a ball.

"Nope. Just watching the biggest party we'll probably ever see at Ridgeway", he said, motioning with his head to the mob of kids by the front steps. Sam tore her eyes away from Freddie for a moment to see what he was talking about, and she chuckled when she saw them all.

"What's so funny, Puckett?", Freddie asked, his eyes getting a great view of the side of Sam's face, or the part of it that wasn't covered by her blond tresses. She shook her head, lowering it and then flipping it back in one motion, her hair wildly flying all over the place, before digging into her backpack for yet another Fat Cake for her to devour. Watching her tear into the pink ball of goodness, he grinned; whenever Sam had a Fat Cake in her hand, she was practically in heaven.

"Nothing…just thinking about how hard it was for me and Spencer to get that mechanical bull down the steps all the way into the lobby so that we could load it up into the truck yesterday", she said with a fond hint of remembrance, which in turn caused Freddie to give her a skeptical, questioning look. She glanced at him and rolled her eyes, sighing, before confessing, "Oh alright, Spencer did all of the work…I just watched and drank Wahoo Punch and ate a ham sandwich."

That was the Sam that he knew, Freddie said to himself. "That was a pretty good plan that you thought of, y'know", he said softly, causing Sam to whip her head to face him, giving him a weird look, like she couldn't believe he just said that.

"Did _Fredward Benson_ just tell _moi_ that she had a good plan?", she asked in a false-mocking tone, putting her hand up to her open mouth, acting like she had just seen something that caught her by surprise. Freddie rolled his eyes again and nodded his head.

"Yeah yeah, go ahead, milk it up, Sam. But it really was. I didn't think you had it in you to make something like that up on the fly. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm proud of you", he said with a smile on his lips. A year ago, he'd of had to painfully force himself to say that before dry heaving. Now? Not so much. He'd finally warmed up to the fiery blond, and managed to look past the beatings and insults to realize that Sam wasn't as bad as she really was. She just had issues, but then again, who didn't? Bottom line was, he liked Sam for who she was, even when she was giving him dead arms and finding new ways to twist his name around into an insult.

"So wait…you're serious?", she asked, almost timidly, finding herself playing with the laces on her multi-colored Converses, awaiting an answer. She was used to Freddie 'complimenting' her before taking it back and joking with her, which would result in him getting kicked in the shin very hard. He very rarely meant it when he complimented her…to her recollection, he had only done it once or twice before in the past. This was still very new ground for her.

"Yeah, I'm serious. Why wouldn't I be? Your plan got Principal Franklin his job back and Miss Brigs and Mr. Howard back to just being teachers. We don't have to follow the blue and khaki dress code anymore, and Principal Franklin pretty much told us that you, me and Carly are his three favorite students. So yeah, of course I'm serious", he said, that smile never once leaving his face as Sam felt her face brighten and her already good mood get even better.

"Thanks Freddie…that means a lot. Even if it's coming from a nub like you", she said, playfully shoving him while he smiled back and did the same. He then went to say something, but stopped and shook his head disapprovingly. Tilting her head to the side, she looked at him quizzically before asking the obvious question that was on her mind.

"What's on your mind, dude?"

"Oh…nothing. You'd probably want to break my nose and I don't want to ruin your good mood, so I'm not gonna risk the damage to my face and be a killjoy", he said flatly, his shoulders hunched in his sitting position.

"Ah come on, Fredwardo, it can't be all that bad if you were thinking about saying it. Color me intrigued", she said, nudging him with her hand, which caused him to tilt his own head and give her a half-hearted grin before taking a deep breath.

"I was just thinking…", he started out in a low whisper, causing Sam to strain to hear him. "I'm gonna kinda miss the whole blue and khaki dress code…because…you looked um…_really_ good in blue and khaki…", he managed to get out before quickly shutting his mouth and eyes, waiting for the eventual ass kicking to commence. But it never came, much to Freddie's surprise. When he opened one eye, he saw Sam staring at him, her face unreadable, and jaw dropped. Opening the other eye, he kept himself alert, in the off-chance that Sam _did_ decide to start whooping on him. But there she was, staring at him like he had grown a second head. The silence was slowly starting to eat away at him on the inside, and he was just waiting for something, anything from Sam, but it wasn't coming.

"Sam?", he said, finally breaking the ice that was building between them. "Are you alright?"

"Freddie…", she started out slowly, causing him to raise an eyebrow; she never called him Freddie. "Did um…did you really…_mean_ what you said there?", she asked in a soft and squeaky tone, which was very un-Sam like of her. Nodding his head, Freddie suddenly found it hard to say anything without the words getting caught in his throat.

"Wow…then I guess I have a reason to do this", she murmured, slowly moving closer and closer to Freddie, surprised that he wasn't backing up hurriedly by this sudden change in her.

"Do wha--", was all Freddie managed to get out before he felt Sam's lips upon his own in a fiery outburst of passion from the blond. And strangely, Freddie liked it. He didn't make any attempt to move away or break off the kiss; instead, he felt his hands instinctively wrap around Sam's slender waist, pulling her closer to his body as her hands were still on his face, holding his head in place as she kissed him madly. Only when the need for air became glaringly apparent did they break off the lip lock, both of them breathing heavily, foreheads pressed to one another. They were both grinning from ear to ear before Sam spoke out.

"That was one of the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me", she said raggedly, licking her lips in anticipation for another kiss. Freddie smiled in return, brushing away some blond tendrils of hair from her face.

"Well then, I'm glad I said it", he said, his breath hitching in his throat, but he didn't care. Moving their heads back, Sam wrapped her arms around Freddie's body and leaned into it, placing her head on his shoulder, sighing contently.

"I've been wanting to do that for a while, you little dork, but you never gave me an opening until just now", she said as she detached an arm and flicked his ear before returning it to where it came. Freddie merely smirked, allowing his head to lay on Sam's as he responded.

"Better late than never, they always say", he said as he placed his arm around Sam's back and let it hang there. She, in turn, bit his neck hard, but not enough to draw blood. It was like she was marking her territory…and she wanted to make sure that Freddie was hers, and only hers.

"You mean a lot to me, Freddork. You always have. I'm just…so happy that you know now…", she muttered, trailing off, letting him finish the thought for her.

"You mean a lot to me too, Sam. I didn't think you'd feel the same way…but I sure am glad that you do", he said, rubbing the place on his neck where she bit him, smiling at the thought that he belonged to her now. He wouldn't have it any other way.

"Just do me a favor, alright?", she asked as she looked up into his gaze, smiling as he smiled back.

"And what would that be?"

One thump of the forehead later, and Freddie had his answer.

"Never make me wait for a chance to express my feelings for you like that ever again."

As last of the kids finally emptied out of the school, Freddie chuckled to himself as he felt Sam move her body deeper into his own. "I won't, Sam. I won't."

A few feet away, as one of the last cars pulled out of the parking lot of the school, Carly and Spencer smiled to themselves as they watched Sam and Freddie _finally_ act upon their feelings. Catching one last fleeting glance at her two best friends before they hit the road back to their apartment, Carly whispered one thing to herself as Spencer turned on the radio and began blasting music throughout the car.

**"Better late than never."**


End file.
